“The Commander. A Life of Barclay de Tolly”

This is the first full-lenght study of the remarkable man who overcame the handicap of coming from an emigre (Scottish) family settled on Livonia (later divided into Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), to become a Prince of the Russian Empire, the Russian Minister of War, and in the eyes of many the real architect of Napoleon´s defeat in the campaign of 1812. The story covers a number of Napoleonic campaigns and sheds, in particular, new light on the lesser-known fighting in the period between Austerlitz and Friedland and on the Finnish campaign of 1808; it also tries to adjust historical reputations so greatly influenced by Tolstoy´s vivid “historical” portraits in War and Peace.
Michael Barclay de Tolly (1761-1818) was brought up in a strict Protestant mould very different from the atmosphere of arbitrariness and indifference which fashioned most of his Russian compatriots and, even though he was entered in the Russian army at six years old and went on active service at fifteen, he always seemed a little apart from the others. He distinguished himself in the Turkish war of 1787, the European campaigns of 1790 onwards and, most spectacularly, in the Finnish war of 1808. As Russian Minister of War he prepared the country for Napoleon´s invasion. But it was his position as field commander of the main Russian army during the first part of the 1812 campaign that brought him is greatest fame, for his judicious strategy, and disgrace, in Russian eyes, for allowing Napoleon to advance so deep into Russia. Ultimately restored to favour, named Field-Marshal, Commander-in-Chief, and eventually Prince of the Russian Empire, Barclay accompanied the victorious advance of the Allies across Europe, from the Russian border to the triumphal entry into Paris in 1814 and again in 1815.
The author, who was himself of Estonian birth, completed this biography, written in collaboration with his wife, just before his death in 1978.